


just like we always talked about

by pikapegasus



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), WandaVision (TV)
Genre: Angst, Driving, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Natasha Romanov Is Not A Robot, Pre-WandaVision
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-27
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-18 11:02:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29732895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pikapegasus/pseuds/pikapegasus
Summary: As Wanda starts settling into her new life at the Avengers facility, she realizes she has a small dilemma: she needs her driver's license. Luckily for her, Natasha and the others are there to help.
Relationships: Wanda Maximoff & Natasha Romanov
Comments: 10
Kudos: 38





	just like we always talked about

**Author's Note:**

> listen. did i just watch the entirety of wandavision ep 8 and focus all my energy on that part where wanda drove a car for like 30 seconds? Yes. yes i did. then someone on tumblr tried to come for me over it so i decided to write a fic abt it in retaliation, naturally.
> 
> no wandavision spoilers here! just wanda learning how to drive post-aou <3 also, the ending is post-endgame angst, whoops

Of all the life changes one might expect to make upon moving in with a world-famous team of superheroes, it’s the seemingly mundane ones that can change one’s life that never come to mind first.

Driving. This is about driving.

In Sokovia, Wanda never worried much about getting from point A to point B. Mostly because she never had a reason to travel far enough to warrant _needing_ to invest the time and money into becoming a licensed driver and car owner, and partly because, as she’s realized from her first few weeks in the U.S., public transportation was _actually_ an accessible option in Sokovia.

(“But of course, because how else would the great United States of America make money off their citizens commuting?” was all Natasha, fellow European-born, had to say on the matter when Wanda pointed it out.)

So, as long as Wanda plans to stick around here, which seems…indefinite (even _permanent?_ ) at this point, she needs to figure out a way to get around.

She hasn’t known the Avengers very long, so she’s not about to ask them to chauffeur her around. Not that she even has many places to go. But having the ability to at least leave and _go somewhere_ from her new secluded home would give her some peace of mind.

Luckily, the issue becomes apparent on its own about a month into her residency, as the base empties out for the weekend. Sam and Steve are off to go work on a lead for some man they’ve been looking for, Rhodey’s heading back to DC, and Natasha just wants to leave, too, because why not?

“Do you have any plans this weekend?” she asks Wanda in passing in the hall.

“Uh, no.”

“You should get out more,” Natasha says. “See the world outside the base.”

Wanda sighs. “I need a car to do that.”

“We have cars you can borrow—“

“—and a driver’s license?”

Natasha stops walking at that.

“Right,” she says, thinking for a moment. “Wanna learn?”

“Who would teach me?”

“Well, your current options are a month-old robot and myself. So, I’d hope you’d pick me.”

Natasha smirks, and Wanda searches her words and expression for any malice. After all, it wasn’t too long ago they were enemies, however brief. Even though the Avengers have been generally welcoming in the past month, Wanda’s just waiting for the other shoe to drop.

“I pride myself on being an excellent driver,” Natasha continues. “Ask Steve to teach you, and he’ll have you driving straight into a wall in no time.”

Wanda can’t help but laugh at that. “You don’t mind?”

“I’d rather not have another reckless Avenger driver on the road in the future, so I see this as early intervention.” Natasha resumes walking, with more determination in her step this time. “Come on, we can start now.”

* * *

After a weekend of driving in circles around the Avengers facility parking lots and Natasha’s so-called “crash course” ( _not_ literal, she emphasized) on driving laws, Wanda’s walking out of their nearest DMV with her shiny new driver’s permit in hand.

Well. It’s just a boring, old piece of paper.

“It’s _your_ boring, old piece of paper,” Natasha says as congratulations.

Then she hands the keys to Wanda, which Wanda nearly drops in shock. 

“Natasha!”

“What? You can drive us home now.”

Only problem is, their “nearest” DMV was an entire half hour away from the base because, again, it’s in the literal middle of nowhere. That’s a lot of road to drive. A lot of road to crash on.

“It’s the middle of the day and we’re still far from the city. There’s barely anyone on the road,” Natasha insists as they settle into the car. “We’ll be fine.”

Wanda starts the car slowly, feeling her hands shake. It’s silly, she thinks; she has magical powers and just recently saved the world from a near-apocalypse, yet _driving_ rattles her. She takes an embarrassingly deep breath to quell her nerves, but Natasha doesn’t waver.

“Remember our backing up practice,” she says, twisting her body to check the back windshield for any signs of trouble. “Just go slow and keep looking.”

Wanda puts the car into reverse and mirrors Natasha’s twisted body.

* * *

Somehow, “driving practice with Wanda” becomes a semi-official part of Avengers training. Any time Natasha needs to run an errand—which used to be almost _never_ , but now seems _daily_ —she uses it as an opportunity for Wanda to practice. The others pick up on it quickly, and soon enough, she’s in charge of driving _everyone_ around.

“I don’t wanna pay a delivery fee.” Sam shows up in her doorway one evening, the app Wanda’s come to recognize as _Postmates_ open on the phone in his hand. “Can you drive me to the restaurant to pick it up instead? I’ll pay you back with a free appetizer.”

“Natasha gave me a list of DVDs to pick up,” Steve says another day, handing a small paper to her. On it is a hastily scribbled list of random movies and TV shows spanning the years Steve was in the ice. (Never mind the fact that DVDs are near-obsolete, but this _is_ Steve.) “There’s a store just a little ways down the road we can go check for them, if you don’t mind driving me.”

“I could kill for a sandwich right now,” Rhodey says, despite it being the middle of the morning, car keys already in his hand. “Couldn’t you?”

“I need to go…to a place,” Vision says a few days later, after their training session for the day has wrapped up. “And I need you…to drive me.”

Wanda just stares at him. “You…can fly.”

“But I want you to _drive_ me,” he says, just a bit _too_ robotic compared to his usual tone. “It’s the only way.”

Wanda crosses her arms over her chest. “Natasha put you up to this.”

“She said it’s an imperative part of your training?”

He reveals the keys in his hand. She takes them with a sigh.

* * *

Within a few months, Wanda’s convinced she’s spent more hours driving her teammates around than completing any _actual_ Avengers training with them. Maybe the fact the world hasn’t been under immediate threat of ending, thus requiring the Avengers’ full and undivided attention, in that time is what matters most here, but Wanda _does_ take pride in her extensive driving experience.

At this point, she’s driven every Avenger and almost everyone even remotely related to them somewhere, whether it be a short trip to the other side of the compound or her first and _last_ attempt driving in New York City (she _still_ hasn’t forgiven Natasha for that one). The consensus is: she’s a damn good driver.

When she’s finally ready for her driving test, the final step to getting her license, Natasha and Clint take her driving around the area of the DMV for another questionable number of hours, giving her mock tests so she will be prepared for anything. Though the (borderline obsessive) amount of time they spend driving around the same ten residential blocks makes Wanda wonder how failing would even be _possible_ , now that she’s practically memorized the entire neighborhood _,_ she doesn’t want to be overconfident.

“You’ll be fine, kid,” Clint says to her in the waiting area of the DMV. “Just stay focused and remember everything you’ve been practicing these past few months.”

“All those times I convinced Steve he needed to buy DVDs just to get you drive down that narrow road…” Natasha says, surprisingly serious. “It was all for this moment.”

Wanda just laughs, nervous, because she can already see this sitcom play out in her mind: Natasha and Clint hype her up, she gets cocky, and then it all spirals out of control the moment she sits in the car with the examiner. Maybe the car suddenly dies. Or explodes.

Before she can decide, one of the examiners calls to her from the door. She stands slowly from her chair.

“We’ll be waiting for you riiiight here,” Natasha says.

* * *

The car doesn’t die or explode. Actually, the whole thing goes really well.

Wanda gets a perfect score.

She shows her grading sheet off to Clint and Natasha immediately afterward, of course. For two former assassins, they’re surprisingly loud when they’re excited, as their cheers quickly fill the crowded DMV.

“Excuse me! This is an office, not a football game,” one of the receptionists cuts in.

“Well, this is official _Avengers_ business,” Clint says.

“Whatever business it is, just take it outside."

So, once Wanda collects all the necessary paperwork, they do, Natasha and Clint’s loud praise instead overtaking the parking lot. Halfway to the car, though, they begin arguing over who was _really_ the best driving instructor among the Avengers, but Wanda suddenly stops them.

“Thank you. Really.” She feels the grin on her face widen. “I couldn’t have done this without either of you, or the rest of the team, taking the time to teach me.”

Natasha and Clint look at each other briefly before either respond.

“We just wanted to help you adjust as much as we could,” Clint says. “And help you feel like you could have your own independent life here, too.”

“Plus, now we can just send you on errands for us like the rookie you are,” Natasha adds.

Their laughter carries them all the way back to their car, where Wanda stops at the trunk.

“Ready to drive for the first time as an officially licensed driver?” Natasha asks.

“Hmm...no.”

Wanda chucks the keys at Clint’s chest, which he just barely manages to catch.

“I think I’m actually all driven out,” she says with a sudden (and very fake) yawn. “I’ll just wait until my real license comes in the mail, you know? I don’t really want to carry all these papers around…”

She opens the backdoor and slides in before either of them can respond, but she hears their laughter. As they begin to argue over who, between the two of them, should drive, Wanda looks over her driver’s license paperwork in her lap with a sudden sense of pride.

Her fingers trace over her name and the black and white headshot that will be printed in full color on her eventual license. Even now, despite the grain in the picture, she thinks she looks happier than she has in a very long time.

* * *

Wanda comes to in a world that is unrecognizable.

She follows her first instinct, to _fight_ , suppressing her loud thoughts demanding answers, an explanation as to _what_ happened, _where_ she went, and _where is Vision_.

When the dust settles, she realizes it’s over a destroyed Avengers facility, which she hadn’t lived in for years before… _whatever_ happened with Thanos happened and the world went dark; but, there were just as many happy memories here as there were tragic ones.

She soon learns it isn’t just Vision who’s gone. It’s also Natasha. Tony, who she had a complicated relationship with. And, days later, out of nowhere, Steve. While the others are still very much alive, they aren’t exactly _here_.

So, she does the first thing that comes to mind: she drives.

In that tragically, hilarious way, one of the cars fortunate enough to be away from base the day they fought Thanos was the _exact_ car she learned to drive in. The car she spent countless hours in, driving her teammates around on pointless errands, learning who they were and where they came from, mending her own shattered heart from Pietro’s death in the process.

The car she took and passed her driving test in to finally get her license, which everyone celebrated.

So, she drives that silly red car around aimlessly, grieving the complete and absolute destruction of her personal life for the _third_ time.

Good thing Natasha always left tissues in the glove compartment. 

**Author's Note:**

> am i writing mcu fic again.....Tragique 
> 
> anyway, follow me on tumblr at [crazyrichfilipinos](https://crazyrichfilipinos.tumblr.com/)


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